Italian here. I was in one of the first cohorts which were not forced to serve in the army. Here, conscription was even considered a way to balance sex-related

Italian here. I was in one of the first cohorts which were not forced to serve in the army. Here, conscription was even considered a way to balance sex-related work opportunities, since it was a burden on men only, hence women who entered the workforce were a bit advantaged. I agree that the experience can be good, but YMMV a lot: many of my friends were happy to serve and learned a lot, but many others were shocked and some never fully recovered. Such a life won't fit everybody. Also, it takes quite a lot of time in your life even when you would like to do something else. I think that a "serve your country" 6/12 months period, to be done by everybody by the time you're 25 or so, that you can plan, could be useful.